How come nobody bikes on the moon anymore? Back in the day, you used to see people riding bikes on the moon all the time, you know, just free-wheelin' it in space. Somersaulting over outcrops and popping wheelies over crates and generally just being awesome, until they decided to head back to the fire pits to jump over those. Mmm, those were the days. Makes a person all nostalgic for a better time, a bike-ier time. Sort of makes a person want to race across 26 tracks on 6 different worlds with 20 different unlockable characters, doesn't it? Well, then, I guess you'd best start playing CycloManiacs, the newest game of racing mayhem from robotJAM and LongAnimals.

The controls are easy to learn but hard to master, with the [arrow] or [WASD] keys to control the bike, and tapping [X] or [space] to bunny hop when you can. If you get launched into the air, you can hold down the directional keys to somersault. Perform tricks in mid-air or pop wheelies to build up your stunt bar, which, when strong enough, can temporarily unlock a huge boost to your speed. Just make sure you're facing up before you hit the ground. Crashing in CycloManiacs will set you back to the last checkpoint you passed, represented here by a checkered flag. It may not sound like much given how frequent checkpoints appear, but even seconds here can set you back to last place when the other bicyclists are hot on your pedals.

You'll initially only have access to a single track, but completing certain challenges on it will unlock even more. Each track you unlock comes with a new set of challenges, and range from the modest, such as finishing a track in a certain amount of time, to the insane, like getting fifteen total seconds riding a rear-wheelie on a mostly uphill course. These tricks get easier, however, as winning races and completing challenges earns you money you can use to upgrade your bike's various aspects. Since these upgrades are applied to all characters, you can swap back and forth between your favourites without missing a beat.

Analysis: The length of your love affair with CycloManiacs will largely depend on how patient you are with feeling out the fiddly controls. I found myself having to repeatedly tap the [left] and [right] keys to maintain my balance both in air and on the ground. It eventually became like second nature, just something I compensated for automatically, but it can still be frustrating to people just expecting to leap right into things. The physics still seem a little off, even after you get used to the controls. Why your bike behaves like you're trying to ride it over a wildly undulating bowl of Jell-O is beyond me. There's also the fact that your opponents aren't subject to the same set-backs you are, and aren't penalized for their crashes.

But once you've found your rhythm, you will discover that the game is just like riding a bike. (Yes, I know I'm witty.) The controls will feel more and more natural to you the longer you play, and you'll be able to worry less about face-planting and more about pulling off eight consecutive somersaults. While the tricks you can perform are limited, the variances in tracks and terrain add a new level of skill each time, and keep it from feeling stale.

Surprisingly, for me, at least, CycloManiacs' let-down wasn't the hard-to-master control scheme. It was the lack of a multiplayer function. With such a huge cast of characters, the game is practically begging for it. This is the type of game you can easily lose hours at a time in, and it would be so much better if you were competing against a friend for high scores and fast times. Pulling off a complicated series of spins and wheelies by a hair isn't nearly as satisfying as it would be if I were rubbing it in a dear friend's face. We can only hope that they have plans for it somewhere down the road, since it seems like the next logical course.

While it may take some practice and patience to perfect, CycloManiacs is still a surprisingly fun little racing game with loads of personality. The sheer mass of achievements available and the "skillz" required to unlock them will keep completionists busy for a long time. The rest of us will just revel in being six years old all over again, barelling down a hill at top speed and shrieking our joy into the wind. Until we skid facefirst across the pavement and want our mothers. But until then? Ride the wind, baby. Ride the wind.

Alex: once you get a few new bikes unlocked, and upgrade your speed/acceleration... you'll be a master in no time.

My question is... has anyone beaten the Haddock? I'm stuck at 64 achievements on Kong. I made a thread on the forums there, and it seems that nobody has been able to beat him. I can consistently get to the "half pipe" obstacle around 24-25 seconds into the race, but I lose so much speed/distance trying to get up the right side of it, I get overtaken. It seems that you NEED to get a boost before reaching this point, but there just isn't enough time/distance/speed to pull off enough tricks without being overtaken earlier. At least, I haven't been able to come close in 100+ attempts.

I have all the medals now accept the ones on the moon, AND the piano chase one. Please someone tell me the secret of completing the piano chase level, I'm a completionist and if I don't finish that level I can't continue to the moon :P

I really want to play this game, and I get as far as having chosen my character. Then the race seemingly begins, but all I see is a black screen and the Pause/Mute button. Any ideas what could be wrong? And yes, I have the latest Flash player installed.

Long: glad you addressed the Haddock... but I think you made it too easy. It's now, by far, the easiest of the 5 bonus levels. The Haddock wasn't even on the screen for 90% of the race. Whereas the other 4 were all right on my behind the entire race.

Got 70 achievements. Got a video that will be up soon showing some of the harder ones.

Is there any possible way to get in first on the moon? I am sir colin with a level five boost, and then, I see the final flag, and do a victory jump. Nobody else is on the mini-map, and I suddenly die when I hit the ground.
Seriously, what's up with that?
You may want to make it so it is possible to WIN before you post a game

I have used Cycle king for the more mundane medals, like collecting the tokens.

@JIGuest, Here's some help for beating the balloon.

As soon as the race starts, lean forward, and do your front wheelie. Hold it as long as you can as often as you can. Get that boost rating up. Also, get a feel for where the bumps are in the level, and try to bunny hop over them. Make sure you've been buying speed upgrades too.

For those who can't figure out how to boost:

Tricks fill your trick meter. When your trick meter is full, it initiates a boost. If you keep filling your trick meter while boosting, it will multiply the boost. The easiest to do this with is Sir Colin or Farty Pants. They spin so easily that you can do front flips by just bunny hopping and rotating forward. Keep those tricks coming, and the boost will blast to the x5 multiplier! Good Luck!

For the 10 seconds Rear wheelie:

I used Mr. C and as the race started, I backed up instead of going forward. Then I got the Wheelie started, but I did not hold the accelerator. Instead just tap it and keep the wheelie going. once you think you reached the 10 seconds, touch down, and blast to the finish. REMEMBER! You only need to beat the NINTH place computer so that you do not end in TENTH. You do not have to be first, just not LAST.

Justin is right; use Farty or Colin. All you need to do is stay put when the race starts and continually do stationary flips until you get all the boosts. Also, your jumps power increases when you're boosted, so you can pull of doubles and triples.

After you got your required boost, head for the finish line! I still managed to finish third in 'ZigZag' after getting that 5x boost!

1) Boost is automatically stored and used after the boost bar maxes; Boost gets generated when you do tricks. Front and back somersaults, front and back wheelies, and Air Time (staying in the air for over 1 second). Boost gets used AUTOMATICALLY, so in order to get extra boost levels, you need to do a bunch of tricks while in boost mode, which happens to be far, far easier than non-boost mode.

2) Each racer has obviously different bikes; The placement, traction, and weight of each players wheels differ from player to player.

The players with the 2 furthest wheel distances (and thus the hardest to control and use) are the Bowler Brothers and Mr. C - Neither of them are recommended for use.

The 2 players with the best traction are Billy Boneshaker and The Cycle King.

The 2 players with the least traction and fastest speed are Sir Colin and Ron. They also have the most unique wheel placement (other than, obviously, the bowlers and trikeceratops). Subsequently, Colin is also the player with most "death zones" (places a player can be hit and have to start from the last checkpoint.) Ron has the fewest of them, but happens to have such a narrow wheelbase that he's likely to tip over if not controlled properly.

The 2 players with the most well-rounded and user-friendly wheelbases are The King and Spoke.

3) Coming in last negates ALL achievements you could have won, so avoid coming last at all possible cost if your trying to rack up medals.

5) There's 1 level of "-sault" for each level of boost; To my knowledge the only 2 players capable of achieving a quintuple somersault or back-flip are Colin and Ron.

6) Different terrain sets offer slightly different performance for players. Players with more traction tend to have an easier time on sand, while players with less traction have easier times on concrete maps. That being said, not every players follows this (for example: RoboJam should have high traction, but tends to be better for the Volcano than the Desert)

How has no one beat the Haddock? I beat him in 2 tries, easy. And by the way, the trick to the boosts is just to jump up and down and keep doing somersaults until you get the boost you need. This is only possible with Sir Colin or Farty Pants, though. And Spoke is the best at back wheelies.

On the Piano Chase Special, I was trying everything - leaning forward for the downhills and flats, leaning back slightly just before the uphills, memorizing where the rocks were so I could jump at just the right time to clear them, etc. Then I tried something simple and beat it on the first try.

Get a sneaky start, and hold the up arrow. That's it. Let the bike do what it wants and just hold that up arrow. I beat the piano on the first try, after many, many frustrating previous attempts.

Farty Pants seemed by far the best cyclist as he spins so quickly in the air and still has great traction. It's easy to keep the boosts going by bunny hopping and doing a front or back flip between jumps. My record was 7 spins by the way.

The only times when it's better to pick someone else is for the back wheely challenges when it's easier with a large back wheel. I used Mr. C for the 10 second single wheely.

The other exception is when going for the collection challenges. I found a well balanced cyclist like Dragon Bracket is slightly better for these.

All the chase challenges are pretty easy. Just get the upgrades and keep accelerating. All you really need to do is correct slightly to get good landings to keep your speed up from the small jumps.

I have beaten the haddock it was fairly easy, but i need to know who is the best character for doing wheelies???
For the haddock dont do any tricks just drive hold down the acceleration the whole time and hold the right arrow key as much as you can it gives you boosts..

also on Jayisgames

chrpa—
Hi! The week is behind us and you can play again! The new Weekday Escape arrived! Diligent Nicolet ported another cute cube for PC full of apples and codes, and after you escape it, you may connect with your inner...
...

Jeff—
Hello loyal, long-time users and readers of JiG, We would like to see JiG more dynamic in 2019 with more reviews! If you like games and if you think you have the skills to write about them, why not join...
...

chrpa—
Hello escapers! I'd like to inform you that the new WE is out! Nicolet released the second game for PC, and it's very enjoyable indeed. And clever. Also good looking! After escaping their "cube", tomoLaSiDo locks you in the...
...

chrpa—
Hi! Let me welcome you to the new Weekday Escape! Again you start in cosy Amajeto's room, and after you fight your way through all the codes you will find yourself in nice small room by Nicolet. Hopefully we'll see...
...

JayIsGames offers a free online experience with the best free online games. You can read our daily honest reviews and walkthroughs, play games, discuss about them. JayIsGames.com is a leading Flash and Online game review site. Since 2003, we review every day only the best, including casual games, flash games, arcade games, indie games, download games, shooting games, escape games, RPG games, puzzle games, mobile games and much more.
Submit a Game: Don't just read reviews or play games on JayIsGames.com, submit them! Submit your game now and we might release it in homepage. Use our game submission form.
Check us back often! We add new games every day and only the best games!